Wasser Puppe
by Maiden of the Heavens
Summary: German for Water Doll.Her mother always told her to never trust strangers, but what about animals? Aster has been taken by Victor Creed, on the way to Three Mile Island, she puts her life into his hands,whether she lives or dies is entirely up to him.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: ****This story came to me, due to the fact that how Aster Dujardin ended up being Stryker's puppet was never mentioned or told. So here's the story, I hope you like it, and sorry if Sabertooth is OOC, I tried my best! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH)**

**I do not own X-Men, just the plot for this story and any OCS. **

Chapter 1

_- Leipzig, Germany -_

Water droplets danced around her in circles, sparkling in the sunlight. Her pupils became cat-like slicks as the water from her fingers, followed the motions of her fingers, and became a circle large enough to fill the empty goldfish pond in front of her. Her dark chocolate colored hair fell around her shoulders in extremely loose ringlets, as she bent down to unknot the plastic bags that held her new goldfish inside them.

They would get a happy home in her mother's new garden. Gardens, flowers, even the simple grass that tickled her bare feet, reminded her of one person. Ivy…her little sister…

Her parents had abandoned her, at the age of eight on the side of the road on outskirts of the town they lived in now. Just because she was different, just because she did not look the same as everyone else.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts of the sibling she had not seen in seven years , the water-manipulator freed the goldfish from their plastic bag prison, and into the lukewarm liquid water of the pond.

Aster stiffened, feeling her nerves go on edge, as she let the strings from her fingertips, gather water closer to her from the running hose. A dark shadow had cast itself over the sunlight that was once warming her back, and she had the feeling that the intruder was not friendly.

The Water-Manipulator turned fast, with grace such as a ballerina should have, her spring green eyes deadly, the water gathered in front of her as a tiny wave, that reached to her waist. She looked up at the man, in front of her, and the water she had under her control, nearly turned into a puddle at her feet.

He had very broad shoulders, and wide chest at that, the black duster that he wore, would probably swallow her whole. She glanced at his face, and somehow she found her eyes wondering down to his massive hands, and staring at the claws that came out of the fingertips. Deadly claws.

He was a mutant, somewhere in her mind, a tiny voice was screaming for her to run, but her legs would not budge a muscle.

"_Wer sind Sie _-who are you-?" She questioned, the words coming out shaken more in awe, then in fear.

Victor Creed looked down at the girl, that was his target. Aster Dujarden. A mutant with the power to manipulate water.

The description defiantly fit her. Long brown hair, and green eyes. He narrowed his eyes at her and grinned, but she still did not back away. It was odd that was not afraid of him, looked more like she was in awe of him then anything else.

Aster. Certainly a pretty little thing. Too bad, she was probably going to be dead, once he handed her over to Stryker, it was all just too bad.

The water-manipulator backed up, when the intruder strode forward. He had not answered her, he probably did not speak German, and her English was too poor and heavy accented to be able to get an response.

Finally, she listened to the little voice screaming frantically in her head. She turned on her bare heel and ran, she ran out of her mother's garden, past the rose bushes and newly grown apple tree. Knowing that going inside the house would not help, it would only put her mother and little brother, Edmund in danger, Aster stumbled over several rocks, and paused long enough to peer into the window of the living room, her hands pressed against the cool brink exterior of the house.

A cold chill ran down her spine, as her spring green eyes grew wide with horror. Blood was splattered against the pane, her mother's body lay slumped against the red stained couch, unmoving. But where was Edmund?

Trying to keep the tears that were welling up away, and the intruder forgotten, she made to step back from the window. She was going to use the water keeping the grass alive to break the window, unfortunately she never got the chance…

Victor lunged at her, on all fours like a tiger, one swipe from his muscled arm , as it plowed into her chest with the force of a freight train, and Aster was flat on her back.

Dazed and the air knocked from her lungs, Aster struggled to get into a sitting position. But Victor's hand, pressed hard against her stomach stopped her, from moving even an inch, but her hands were still free.

"You could of made this a lot more entertaining, if you would of just kept running." His deep voice rumbled in her ear. He let his claws, tickle against Aster's cheek, and he actually dug one in, making a deep gash that went from the outside of her eye, nearly to her jawline.

Tears slipped from her eyes, and blurred her vision, her heart pounding in her ears.

She was frightened, truly and completely terrified out of her mind. And the fear showing so clearly in her spring green eyes, only made Victor grin.

That was the reaction, he had wanted all along.

She repeated the same question, she had asked earlier, and now that he was concentrating on what she was asking, he finally replied. "You won't be alive long enough to remember it, doll."

She stared at him wide-eyed and then before he knew what was happening, a huge wave of water, engulfed him and sent him flying into the goldfish pond. Aster was back on her feet, teetering a little and the grass below her, shriveled up and brown.

Victor smirked, so she did have some fight in her. Maybe this was going to be fun after all…

**A/N: ****Good, bad? Should I continue it or not? Please Review! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH) **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, darn writer's block scared away my plot bunnies. I tried to my best to keep Sabertooth in character, and I added as much detail as I could. Please read and review, I do not own X-Men just the plot for this story and my OC, Aster.**

Chapter 2

Victor hauled himself out of the pond, most of the stones that circled it, crushed by the impact of his landing, cracked and broken into pebbles.

He sneered at his prey and sauntered toward her, as she backed away from him, calling more water up from the grass. His claws itched to feel, her flesh bleeding underneath once more. The gauge in her cheek was still fresh, and blood trickled down to the neck of her white and black patterned t-shirt, staining the collar.

Before he knew it, she had her arms in her air and was turning them in fast circular motion. Her dark pupils were cat-like slits, as she sudden moved her hands in front of her, as if she shutting a large double curtain. Mist, heavy and almost blinding moved in front of her, and he could see her shadowy façade turning and bolting farther into the cover she had created.

Victor smiled, as if he was a large cat chasing after a frightened bird, that would soon become his meal. He could hear her bare feet hitting and lifting from the grass after each step, her heavy panicked breathing, and he could smell her fear. And to him, it was that scent that was the sweetest in the world.

"Now this is going to be fun, doll." He grinned, laughing as he spoke.

Aster continued to run, using her manipulated mist to hide herself. Chest heaving and aching for air, her legs and her arms hurt, but she pushed herself to keep running anyways. She was not going to let herself get caught, that was not an option.

Suddenly, she landed in the grass face first, missing a whack on the head from a stone only a fingertip's brush away. Pain shot up from her ankle, and she could feel warm liquid pouring from the wound, mixing with the grass. She tried to turn herself around, to twist herself so she lay on her back, in order to inspect her bleeding ankle more closely, but a heavy weight of muscle and power kept her pinned.

Victor sneered, he held down the Water-Manipulator with one massive clawed hand, while the other was now closer to mouth, his tongue flickering her blood away from his claws. He was an animal, the hunt was what brought him joy. But this one had been short-lived, which left him very disappointed.

Still keeping her pinned with hardly any effort at all, he dug a sedative-filled syringe from the pocket of his black trench coat.

Aster continued to try to squirm, to get the strings from her fingertips connected to water in the grass, that her face was now pressed into, making her nose tickle and itch. The man that acted more animal-like then anything now had her pinned by the base of the neck. With his strength, he could easily crush her neck and kill her, or worse her skull.

Out of fear of death, Aster ceased in her futile escape, she winced ever so slightly as the needle of the syringe was plunged into her neck. The Water-Manipulator's body began to grow heavy, as did her eyelids. The world of green grass that surrounded her going hazy and starting to blacken.

Only one thing made her body shudder both out of fear and uncertainty, her capture's voice rumbling low in her ear, a breathy growl that made her shiver as he said, with far too much promise and pleasure. "I'll make you scream for me later, doll."

With his deadly promise still ringing in her mind, the Water-Manipulator slumped into darkness, tears that were never fully shed, slipping away from the edges of her shut eyes.

Victor lifted Aster over her shoulder, without any effort at all. A sneer crept onto his face, showing fangs, he would keep his promise to her. And he would make her scream until she could not bare too any longer. He turned the whirling sound of helicopter blades, alerting him that his ride was here. The air from the spinning blades, making the grass and the tail of his trench coat dance. The trees creaking in effort to stay rooted.

He readjusted Aster over his broad shoulder better, and then hauled himself and his prey into the helicopter, that Zero was operating.

The sharpshooter turned and raised an eyebrow at Victor, their boss's new victim in the animal-like mutant's lap, one muscled arm wrapped around her so she would not fall out of the airborne travel device.

Victor's only explanation for this way of keeping Aster in place was, "No good seatbelts, don't want collateral damage."

Zero only shook his head and continued to navigate the helicopter to Three Mile Island. If Victor had chosen the girl as his next target for painful torture, she was not going to live long at all.

But then again the only way Victor could claim her as such, was if Stryker deemed her as unfit for the "pool", or if he needed her broken for more useful proposes toward his goal to make the perfect weapon.

Aster awoke, her head heavy and mind muddled, as she struggled to lift her head up, to get away from the penny-smell of blood and wet grass that clung to the fabric she was leaning against.

Her heavy lidded spring green eyes met Victor's deep brown nearly black ones. A shiver slipped down her spine, as he grinned at her, and the shiver and fear forming in her sleepy eyes only made him smile more like a tiger that had its prey cornered.

The Water-Manipulator's head fell back against the rough wool fabric of Victor's coat, she was too tired to try to fight back, too tired to let the scream that wanted to rip from her throat come out. Even the pleas for help she wanted to cry, were formed from her lips as exhausted whimpers.

With one arm wrapped around her waist to keep her from moving off his lap, and one hand pressed against her head. He watched as Aster's eyes slipped back shut and breathing became even.

She was a pretty little thing, he had decided the first time he had saw her. Pretty, but she would not last long against Stryker, and if she could not last against the boss, then how was she going to live through the tortures he was going to put her through?

Tortures to listen to her scream, tortures that would bring her to tears and beg for him to stop.

**A/N: ****Let me know what you thought of this chapter, please review! -MOTH (Maiden of the Heavens) **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ****Welcome to chapter 3! Sorry for the late update, the ugly beast known as Writer's Block scared away my plot bunnies. I should have chapter 4 up soon, and I will probably be changing the rating later on. As always, I do not own X-men just the plot for this story and any OCS. Review, please! -MOTH (Maiden of the Heavens)**

Chapter 3

Aster awoke with her mouth so dry, she could hardly swallow. Her tongue felt like sand paper, her mouth like cotton balls had been jammed into it. And besides being dreadfully thirsty, her head pounded painfully. She struggled to move her hands, and looked up. They were chained above her head with iron, clasped together as if she was in prayer. Her legs sprawled out in front of her, as she quickly folded them to the side in the shape of V.

Ignoring the pain in her head, she looked down. Her jeans and white and black patterned shirt were gone. Replacing those clothes was a plain white dress, that tied in the back and white ballerina-type shoes.

The room was dark, almost pitch black, that is except for the light flittering from underneath the iron door from the hallway. Shadows passed along, as people walked by. Muttered whispers and complaints, could be heard. But Aster was not worried about them, no what she wanted was something to drink. The room was unbearable warm, the temperature made her skin feel dry and itchy. Her lips felt cracked, ready to bleed.

She was just so tired, the heat making her sleepy, as her eyes grew heavy. She slumped forward back into the world of darkness, her head resting against her chest.

The back of his clawed hand met her cheek with a sickening crack, obliterating the silence of the chamber. The Water-Puppeteer let out a whimper of shock and fear. Her eyes bleary with tears of pain, as they trickled down her cheeks. Blood pooled and welled up at the sight of her where her lip was now split open.

Before she could protest, Victor had her jaw clenched in his clawed hand. He sneered at her, his tongue met with the red liquid that slipped down to her chin. She only grimaced, trying to hide her fear, with a glare of disgust.

Victor only chuckled, digging his claws ever so slightly into her chin. "It's cute, that you're trying to act brave, doll. But that isn't going to get you very far. Not in this place."

The Water-Manipulator only continued to glare at him. That was until her spring green eyes locked onto what he was holding in his other hand. The liquid switched in its plastic container, perspiration slid down on the outside. She licked her parched tongue over her split-lip, and nearly whimpered with joy.

Victor smiled at her, a smile that should of brought her body into quivering with fear, but she was to transfixed with the water that he had brought with him to notice.

"You want this, doll?" He questioned, baiting her by letting the water swoosh back and forth in the bottle.

Aster only nodded slowly, and watched with eager eyes as Victor uncapped it.

His other hand was again wrapped around her jaw, until her mouth opened up to the amount he wanted it too. The cold liquid trickled down her throat, some of it trickled down past her lips to chin. But it only sent a shiver down her spine, as the cold droplet hit the fabric of the plain white dress and soaked through to her dry skin.

The mutant who captured her, pulled the bottle away and recapped it. He crouched down to Aster's level, letting one of his claws brush along the side of her cheek where the healing gash was. Aster flinched, and squeezed her eyes shut.

Was his cold and cruel promise of making her scream for him, really coming true now? Aster braced herself for the pain, biting down on her bottom lip, and clenching her already knotted fingers tighter together until the knuckles turned white. Her whole body tensing, but just as she could feel his claws drifting down from her chin to her throat, the other at her ribcage. She could feel the pressure as his claws began to seep through the fabric, almost to her skin.

But something made the animal-like mutant stop suddenly, the claws near her ribcage still dangerously close to digging into her flesh, making her blood pool out, and letting the scream loose that was caught in her throat. More blinding white light was illuminating the dark room as the door lay wide open, and a cold breeze from the hallway seeped in, mixing with the desert heat of the room. It felt like heaven on Aster's skin, as she wearily opened her eyes.

A low growl of annoyance emitted from Victor, baring his fangs ever so slightly. A shadow now blocked most of the light from the chamber, and the feral looked less then pleased to see who was interrupting his fun. He righted himself to his feet, turning to face the man that was in the doorway. The end of his black coat brushing against the Water-Manipulator's very loose chocolate ringlets, as the copper scent of dried blood and damp forest ground reached her nose. Now that her capture was towering in front of her, all light was gone, she was completely bathed in shadow.

"Sabretooth. We haven't even gotten a blood sample from her, and already you've claimed her as your new toy?" the man asked, his voice sounded tired and impatient, as if he was scolding a misbehaving child.

He only snarled in reply and then looked back at Aster from over his broad shoulder. Her spring green eyes were filled with the fear of uncertainty. He smiled at her, a sick smile that sent a shiver down her frame.

The same smile he had used when he made his promise to make her scream for him.

"I'll be back to finish what I started, doll." He growled, almost playfully. Almost, but the growl was filled with madness and the pleasure of seeing her in pain because of him.

The blood in her veins turned to ice, as he left. Leaving only her and the man that scolded her capture.

The man took off his glasses and wiped them on hem of his shirt, before looking at the Water-Manipulator with an over-friendly smile. That was obviously hiding his disgust.

"My name is William Stryker. And you're going to help me with a little project I've been working on."

"And if I can't help you?" Aster managed to choke out, past her fear.

"I'm not really certain what will happen to you, if you aren't able too." Stryker answered, and left the Water-Manipulator to quiver with sobs.

The heavy iron door slammed shut behind the man that ordered her capture and imprisonment, leaving Aster in the dark as she continued to cry.

**A/N: ****Let me know what you thought of this chapter! I hope I'm keeping Victor Creed in character. -MOTH (Maiden of the Heavens) **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: ****Sorry for the late update! Dang Writer's Block. Anyways, I do not own X-Men, just the plot for this story and any OCS. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and please review! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH) **

Chapter 4

Her tears had become dry sobs, she had gotten used to the agony in wrists from the chains, even the numbing prickling needle pain of her now sleeping hands and arms, was not a nuisance. The darkness of the room, with its only glow of light coming from the hallway from beneath the door, was hardly, if any comfort at all against the desert dry heat of the room.

They were keeping her like this to keep her from using her powers. And unfortunately it was working. Aster struggled to keep her eyes from closing, the heat made her tired.

Tired, but not willing to fall to sleep.

Sleep might take her away from the hellish nightmare she had been thrown into, but it never completely made her disappear from it. Waking up was actually worse, especially if she saw him again.

The animal that was hidden beneath the flesh of a man, the one who wanted to torture her and listen to her scream, as if her cries of agony were his sickening lullaby. The way he looked at her, as if she was a cornered mouse and him, the cat about to devour her, made her cringe in both fear and disgust. The way he called her doll, was the one thing that confused her. It was almost in away of affection, almost but not even close to be what would call a lover's pet name. More like ownership. As if she was already his property. That she belonged to him. Doll, sounded like a name fitted for someone who was fragile, weak, and ready to shatter at any second like glass. Weak, fragile? Were those really words that described her?

Aster let her mind wrap around this, now that she had ceased in crying even though no tears would not fall anymore from her spring green eyes anyways. Weak would have to describe her, she was not powerful in anyway. She only used to her powers to water her mother's garden and to hide. Never to defend herself, not until today. Her only strength was in her dancing. Ballet since she was four brought forth the hidden grace, and made her powers meant more for beauty then fighting.

The noisy and irritating bellow of the door being opened tore the Water-Manipulator from her thoughts and made her lift heavy head and weary eyes toward the sound. Light flooded into the room, making her turn to the side and squeeze her eyes shut. The illumination burning her eyes, as the feet shuffled in.

Two people in pure snow-white lab coats entered the room, one released her wrists from where they hung above her head.

They fell into her lap with a heavy thud, considering that her hands were still knotted in chains, as if she was in prayer, they were useless and still prickling with the lack of blood circulation, Aster slowly let her eyes open and get used to the light.

A cold breeze from the hallway, made the air in the room turn lukewarm. She welcomed the chill for however long the door was open for, ignoring the lab coats as one popped open a white first aid kit and took out a cotton swab and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

The second one rolled up the sleeve of her outfit and the cold sensation of the sterilizing liquid sent a shiver up her spine. Aster glanced at the man, and felt her powers stirring. Her vision suddenly shifted drastically, the man become a blur before, as if he was in a badly taken photograph. Instead millions of white lights flashed before her, opening and closing like blooming flowers. Her fingers twitched, invisible strings suddenly dropped from the tips of her fingertips, going toward the moving lights.

A twinge of pain made the Water-Manipulator's vision suddenly jumble back to normal like a thousand puzzle pieces falling into their rightful place, as she blinked rabidly and looked down at the object that had caused the sudden pain.

A needle projected from a vein in her arm, taking blood away and filling the tube with a it's dark ruby color. She wanted to ask why, but was too frightened. If taking her blood meant that she was helping this Stryker person with his project, then she hoped she was helping, so she could out of here.

One of the lab coats slapped a circular band aid onto the area were the needle used to be and left with his partner without another word, taking the vial of her blood and the first aid kit with them.

Aster sighed as the darkness and heat greeted her like old annoying friends, she just wished would go away, and allowed herself to be taken into the world of dreams, no matter the horrors that waited for her when she awoke.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

William Stryker sighed in disappointment at the results for Aster Dujardin's blood test. Among the black ink and white pages of her profile, freshly printed and the very top page were the results, mixing in with the still wet black ink was bold red ink that clearly stated in bold were the words: NOT COMPATABLE.

The Water-Manipulator's powers would of made the project go so much smoother then it was. Lifting his eyes away from the disappointment on the page. He turned to face the doorway of his office.

Victor Creed leaned in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. A smug smile on his face.

"What are going to want me to do with her, now that she's useless?" He questioned, the smug smile turning into a sneer, his claws lengthening at thought of her screaming. Screaming because he was the one causing her pain.

His "boss" did not answer him right away, instead it looked as if he was actually thinking it over. "She's not useless," Stryker mused out loud. "Not yet, anyways. Break her."

Victor Creed nodded and walked out of the office and down the hallway, opening the door to where they were keeping his doll. He slammed the door closed behind him, but even the thick iron did not muffle Aster's screams of agony, or sobbing pleas.

**A/N: ****I hope I added in enough detail, the rating will go up for the rest of the chapters. Chapter five will hopefully be posted soon. -MOTH (Maiden of the Heavens) **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: ****I apologize for the late update, but I have not been in the mood to write for a couple of days. Also the rating is now changed to M due to more detailed scenes. I hope you enjoy this chapter! As always, I do not own X-Men just the plot for this story and any OCS. -MOTH (Maiden of the Heavens)**

Chapter 5

He stood in front of her, watching as her chest rose and fell with every breath she took while she slept. His claws stroked were the gauge was along her cheek. He wanted to make her scream, but not yet. It was too soon, just watch and wait.

Victor smiled every so slightly, one fang showing as Aster started to wake. Her spring green eyes meeting his coal-black ones with a not fully awake glaze. As she slowly blinked her eyes to register to her surroundings, he crouched to her level.

The chains that held Aster's hands together above her head rattled as she tried to move away from him. Something in her tired mind telling her that she was in danger. His claws tickled beneath the soft and delicate skin of her throat, as a scream locked up and she looked up at him wide-eyed.

She had awoken from a peaceful to dream to a nightmare. He was crouched in front of her, his claws starting to pierce the skin, she could feel tears beginning to form at the edge of her eyes.

"If you want me to stop, doll. Tears are not going to work." Victor said sounding disappointed, as the droplets slid down her cheeks and onto his fingers.

"Please…" Aster pleaded, her German accent not as heavy he thought it would be. It even made the word sound enticing.

But Sabertooth wanted her to scream, his claws dug into her throat, as blood swelled up around the puncture wounds and began to slide down and stain the collar of the dress she wore with dark spots. The copper scent of blood filled the room, as a strangled cry escaped the Water-Manipulator's mouth.

Victor released the hold he had on her, her tears and blood now mixed and drying on to his fingers and claws. He was highly disappointed, she was not screaming. Not one blood-curdling scream of fear. Then again, he did not want to rush things, what would be point of breaking her spirit, if he left out all the fun?

He glanced down at her stained clothing and sneered, Aster looked up at him with fear glistening in her teary eyes, as fresh ones fell. She watched, panic flooding through her, as one of Victor's claws nicked the fabric of the dress, sliding down it like a knife through butter. The shredded fabric now showing her ribs, and one side of her chest. He was still sneering at her, as his claws slowly pierced through her ribcage, hitting the bones.

The pain was too much for her to bare any longer, as she struggled to bite back a scream, as his other hand scratched along the side of her chest that was exposed. She screamed then, loud and blood-curdling, full of the pain with the torture he was giving. His claws twisting inside near her ribcage like a corkscrew.

She screamed still, as Victor smiled with satisfaction. He could go at this for an hour or two, her agonizing cries sweet music to his ears. He sighed, he could hear her voice starting to grow raw, the blood-curdling symphony loosing its power. She was weak, and was not able to hold out against the agony for long.

Sabertooth slowly released his claws from her ribcage, the blood flowing freely. His coal black eyes drifted to the side of her chest that was now bleeding from where his claws on his other hand had grazed against it. He could not help but sneer as he noticed, no matter how slight it was, that she had been moved by his touch.

Aster's eyes fell to where his were, and she tried to squirm, about to beg him not too. But his hand clamped tightly around her mouth, making her pleading whimpers sound to her own horror, like moans of pleasure. His other hand now held the bleeding part of her chest, squeezing it to the side, so he could access the claws marks more easily to lick the red liquid away.

The Water-Manipulator eyes grew wide as she felt the slick, wet and warm heat of his tongue against the skin. She felt her vision shift drastically then, as the beast in the flesh of a man became a blur and the glowing pearl-necklace sized orbs were now in front of her. Opening and closing like blooming flowers, as she felt the strings from her fingertips drop down and connect with several of the orbs.

She began to squeeze them as the blooming flowers began to shrink. She could hear Victor snarling, his breathing beginning to become shallow.

Sabertooth snarled angrily as he could feel his windpipe tightening, his vision starting to blur as oxygen began to get more scare going through his mouth and nose. Still growling with fangs bared, he lifted both his hands away from where they held Aster. He backhanded her roughly across her gashed cheek, as she whimpered in pain. Oxygen flowing into his body once more, as his other hand went to her slender fingers, and held them, almost crushing the bones within.

Aster whimpered, biting back a cry of agony, Victor getting close enough to her that their noses were almost touching. His voice came out cold and harsh as he spoke. "I am the only one that is going to be causing you pain. Not the other way around." He began to add more pressure onto her fingers, feeling the bones beginning to crack. "I would break every single one, if I could. But Stryker doesn't want damaged goods."

He released the hold he had on her fingers, and stood. Towering over his new toy, he bent forward and his tongue licked away the blood on her now reopened split lip.

Aster whimpered and a shiver slid down her spine as he smiled at her.

"I'll be back later, Doll." He said and walked out of the room as two nurses came in to inspect the wounds that Sabertooth had inflicted on her.

The Water-Manipulator kept her spring green eyes on the iron door, once the nurses had left, one of them had even given her water. She was better off alive to them, then dead she supposed. And now she was that animal's plaything, it made a knot twist up in her stomach painfully as she tried to banish what he had done to her out of her mind.

Her gaze lifted to her throbbing fingers, with her powers she had almost killed Victor. Nearly made him drop dead in front of her slipper covered feet. Even though this new realization should of brought her hope, it only brought dread and a question that would haunt her dreams.

Did all of this mean that she was monster too?

**A/N: ****Good, bad? Let me know what you thought of this chapter by reviewing! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH) **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: ****I apology for the delay with this chapter, darn writer's block. Anyways, please read and review. I do not own X-men, just my plot for this story and any OCS. -MOTH (Maiden of the Heavens) **

Chapter 6

The Water-Manipulator lifted her heavy-head away from the cement floor, that her glazed eyes had been transfixed on moments before. Two guards had her by the under arms -her hands still chained tightly together, wrapped in heavy metal links- and were dragging her toward a room, she did not recognize. Then again, the whole area was unfamiliar, foreign, and she was pretty positive she was not anywhere near Germany anymore.

But how could she feel so weighted down, as if all of her limbs were lead? Realization struck her muddled mind, as the guards dropped her in front where Stryker was sitting in front of a large white table.

The water…she knew she should not of drunk it. They had drugged her…again.

The man that had brought on her kidnapping turned to face her, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose with a single finger. A sick closed mouthed smile spread across his mouth.

"Do you know why you are here?" Stryker questioned.

"My blood didn't work…" Aster replied slowly, thinking that she would rather face death then being Sabertooth's new toy.

"No, it did not." the man said with a sigh, giving the Water-Manipulator a look of pure disgust, like she was nothing but an insect that could be squished under his shiny black shoe.

"Then what are you waiting for?" She questioned, finally able to lift her head away from where it had been resting against her chest. "Kill me already."

A low chuckle of amusement came from William Stryker, the sound surprised the girl before him. "I have found a purpose for you, my dear. You should be happy you get to live."

Aster somehow found the strength to glare at him, trying to hide the fear shining in spring green eyes.

"Of course some maintenance work will have to be done, and training." he mused aloud.

A large shadow suddenly covered the bright lights in the room, bathing the plain white walls in grey. A shiver slipped down the Water-Manipulator's as she dared to lift her eyes. They met cold dark eyes, as Victor gripped the metal iron link chains that bound her hands together, with a single hand. They tore into separate pieces, hitting the wall and floor in a matter seconds, the bonds fell apart as if they had only been strips of tape.

Aster quickly worked the blood back into her numb fingers, while the beast in a man's skin hauled her to her feet by the back of the thin fabric dress she wore. She pushed back the fear that was rolling around in her stomach, and the tiny voice in her mind screaming for her to run away, practically flashing the word danger in large red letters in front of her eyes, but running would mean death. And maybe, deep in her heart, she knew that dying now would be an idiotic reason, besides if she tried to Sabertooth would only slice her into ribbons, slowly and painfully.

Shuddering at the mere thought of such a way to end her life, she unwillingly followed her capturer now turned mentor, into a separate room. They walked through a hallway, Aster trudging behind him. She tried to ignore the cries of agony and fear she could hear coming through the iron doors, trying to ignore the fact that somehow that she knew that the people, maybe even people like her, fellow mutants, were dying.

Victor halted so quickly, the Water-Manipulator nearly collided into his back, but stopped a couple inches short of actually doing it. He hauled a door that was in front of him open, and shoved Aster inside the door slamming heavily and loudly behind them.

She was greeted by a small child. A little boy about five years old with blond hair and glaucous blue eyes, freckles splattered across his cheeks and nose. Tears to his round cheeks from red and puffy eyes. Aster went to bend down toward the child, but Victor stopped her as the little boy suddenly hissed at them like a frightened cat. Rows upon rows of sharp and deadly fangs proceeding from the tiny mouth, and spit that turned to acid made holes in the cement. The attack nearly getting the Water-Manipulator's toes, as she stumbled back and almost caught an amused chuckle from his chest.

"Kill him." the cold words came from his mouth.

She looked at him now with wide eyes, instead of ones narrowed with annoyance at the fact that he would be pleased to see her toes get melted off. "You can't be serious."

Not a smile or a shake of the head, clarified that he was joking. "The way you can kill people, is so much cleaner then mine." Victor said a slow smile creeping across his mouth, fangs showing a tad, his claws extending and slowly began to tickle along the skin of the Water-Manipulator's neck.

Aster sighed and a whispered apology came out of her mouth to the child that was now cowering in the corner of the room, trying to ignore the feeling of Sabertooth's claws grazing along her neck. She felt her powers activating, as the same glowing pearl-necklace sized orbs were now in front of her once more, opening and closing as if they blooming flowers.

Invisible to the naked eye strings fell from her fingertips and connected wit them, she tried to block out the sounds of the little boy choking and gasping for air, but it was not working. As the opening and closing pearl-necklace sized orbs disappeared all together, so did the sounds that were coming from the child. The awful sounds that could only remind her of a mad cat, hissing and thrashing.

Everything shifted back to normal as the Water-Manipulator's arms fell back to her sides, the strings retracting. She lifted a hand to her face, and was surprised to find her fingers wet with tears. Her glance shifted from her own hand to the boy who lay in the corner of the room. He had one tiny pudgy hand gripping the color of the striped shirt he had been wearing, the other at his chest. His eyes were closed, and looked so pale. She almost prayed that he was not dead, only sleeping. But lying would not bury the truth for long, Victor had removed his claws from where they had been, while she forced the child's heart to cease beating.

Stryker had turned her into a murder. She was going to kill others, just so she could live. Aster collided with the wall, feeling pain shooting up through her body as if she had been run over by a freight train, but it was only Victor sideswiping her into the wall with his arm. She looked up at him, her face still damp with tears. His eyes were deadly, and he did not seem happy with her at all.

Victor strode out of the room in silence leaving Aster to sink against the acid spit splattered wall, holes making it look more like Swiss cheese now. Even though it hurt to do so she hugged her knees to her chest and broke down, tears wracking her body.

Killing to survive seemed so barbaric. Too animal-like to be a human instinct that actually thrived within her, within anybody. But then again she was not a normal human, she was a mutant. A mutant, trying to survive the hell she had been thrown into.

**A/N: ****I am also looking for a BETA reader so if anyone is interested, please message me. I tried to catch all the mistakes myself, but I know I must of missed some. Please review! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH) **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: ****Sorry updating took so long, darn writer's block. Anyways, I do not own X-Men, just the plot for this story and any OCS. Read and Review! -MOTH (Maiden of the Heavens)**

Chapter 7

She watched with distant eyes, as her long loose ringlet curls fell to the ground of the room she was in. One of the nurses was cutting her hair, short. Too short in the Water-Manipulator's opinion, it had taken her years to grow her hair nearly to her backside, and now with a few cuts from a pair of scissors, it was turning into a pixie cut. She hated it.

Aster looked up, and caught sight of Victor watching her from the window that outlined the door. The nurses were nice enough to strap her wrists down to the sides of the chair, so all she could was give her so-called a mentor a very cold glare.

"Oh, don't be so angry, Doll." He sneered, and one of his claws caressed the side of her cheek. "It'll grow back. It's only hair."

"I don't like it." She grumbled, and looked up almost in surprise as Sabertooth sliced one of his claws on his opposite hand against the bounds, and they easily tore in two as if he was ripping off a Band-Aid.

The nurse backed away, fear clear in her light brown eyes, that matched her knotted up hair. The scissors clattered to the ground, Victor's sneer became more for the need of bloodlust, but he was not going to be one to attack her.

"Doll, why don't you teach her lesson?" He questioned, laying one of his massive hands onto her shoulder now, as he bent closer to breath the suggestion in her ear.

"Is she disposable?" Aster pondered with a tilt of her head.

In the days that followed after killing the young mutant boy, she had learned that the humans that worked here, could easily be replaced. Victor had taught her to call them disposables. The mutants that she got rid of were useless, at least to man who ran this so-called operation for a higher power. Useless to Stryker, the man she now loathed. But still he held her life in his hands, or rather Sabertooth did.

Sighing, she went to tuck her hair back behind her ears, and then remembered that half of it was now on the cement floor at her feet. Her powers activated, and the strings dropped from her fingertips to the water that dripped out of the faucet of the sink. The Water glided over to her and she quickly used the cold of the room to turn the water into deadly ice spears.

The ice spears were hurled toward the nurse has she backed against the wall, seven of them embedded into the wall, along the outline of her body, the eight one floating right between her fear struck eyes.

Victor smirked in satisfaction, as the smell of urine filled the room, and dark spot on nurse's jeans was noticeable.

Aster's nose crinkled in disgust, as the ice spear turned into water, as did its fellows, and splashed onto the floor. She left the room, and the nurse to bawl into tears when she finally sunk to the ground below her.

Once they both out into the hall, soldiers came running toward them guns raised. The Water-Manipulator cursed under her breath in her native tongue. The nurse had pushed the panic button that was in the room, the one that sent silent alarm warning the soldiers that they were not keeping the dangerous mutants, the ones that found a purpose and reason to live thanks to man that kidnap them, in line.

Her vision switched, the dark ovals in her sea-green eyes becoming cat-like slits. The strings dropped from inside her fingertips and connected with the windpipes and hearts of the soldiers that surrounded her and beast in the flesh of a man.

An inhuman growl rumbled out of Sabertooth's throat, and before Aster could do anything he had one of his massive hands over her eyes. Blocking her vision, making the strings become slack, but she tightened them again. She was only one that could hear the sound that made as the slack lessened so quickly, like the high pitched whine of a fishing line. Victor shoved Aster into her wall, one hand still around her eyes, the other now grasping her chin with two fingers, and slowly tightening around her neck.

She lost control of her powers then, the strings retreating back into her fingers. "Stop, Doll." he ordered, coldly.

Aster was about to protest, when he squeaked her throat just a little tighter, her brain beginning to beg for the oxygen that needed, as she began to get light headed. He released his hand from where it was covering her sea-green eyes, that had been staring into the darkness of his palm for the last three minutes. She blinked at him, her vision once again normal.

He did not release the hold he had around her neck, not even when the soldiers retreated to wherever they had come from.

"You told me, it was killed or be killed." She said quietly, and a ghost of a proud smirk flittered across Victor's mouth for such a split of a second that she thought she had missed it.

"I know, but killing all of them would leave far too much for me." He explained gruffly, and finally released his hand from her neck. Little pinpricks of blood oozed and trickled down the extremely light brown skin, as Victor used his tongue to lick away the red liquid.

A shudder ran down the Water-Manipulator's spine, as she ignored the heat that coursed through her blood. She did not want to give him more work to do. Besides when Victor returned from taking care of the bodies, he smelled so vile that she did not want to be near him. Smoke, and burning flesh from the incinerator was never a pleasant smell.

And thanks to Stryker, the two of them shared a room. A small bedroom with conjoined full bath, one king size bed that took up most of the space. And even though she did not want to be near him, he would pull her onto the bed with him.

Stripe her until her bare skin was nipped by the cold of the room, and then slip the disgusting smelling shirt, he had been wearing during the work onto her. And if that was not even, he would press her into his shirtless chest until she got used to smell all over again.

"You need to get used to the smell of death." He would tell her every single time in a low growl at her ear, and just for the hell of it, he would bite her earlobe hard enough so that it bled.

Aster cleared her mind of the sickening thought, and began to head down the hall, but her mentor/torturer grabbed her by the wrist not in the least bit way of gentle, and slammed her into the wall so hard, that pain shot up through her back and dazed her sight with itty-bitty black dots dancing in front her eyes.

"I think maybe I've taught you too well, Doll." He growled, "You don't even scream anymore, when I cause you pain."

Aster's eyes narrowed, as his coal black eyes seemed to grow darker with a feeling that never made her happy when she saw it in the depths of his orbs. "Maybe you're starting to enjoy it?" He pondered aloud.

He dug his claws into her jawline, and kissed her roughly on the mouth. Allowing his fangs to dig into her bottom lip. Warm blood trickled down her mouth, but he only licked it away.

She had grown used to the knot that would twist in her stomach, and almost grown used to the whimpers that escaped her mouth. But this was about surviving, and perhaps some where deep down inside, she was starting to enjoy the pain he caused her, a little too much.

**A/N: ****I hope you liked the chapter, I will try to update soon. -MOTH (Maiden of the Heavens)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: ****Sorry for the delay, writer's block, classes, and computer problems really bring down the writing muse and plot bunnies. Please enjoy this chapter, as always I do not own X-men, just the plot for this story and any OCS. -MOTH (Maiden of the Heavens)**

Chapter 8 

Scorching hot water seared her skin and left it to tingle at the sensation of overly hot liquid as it rained down. The glass doors of the stand-in shower were already covered in steam, but she did not care. Aster wanted to get the nasty scent of blood off of her, it tasted and reeked like old pennies. She scrubbed her thin and long fingers through her short and choppy dark chocolate hair with the shampoo again, the bottle now lying empty on the floor by her feet, but still the smell lingered. The Water-Manipulator sighed in defeat and watched as the suds of the shampoo trickled down her bare flesh, and grabbed blindly for the body wash and sponge.

How long had she been here now? she could not tell. Days blurred into years on Three Mile Island, she could not remember the last time she had seen the sun, or known what season it was. All she knew was that Stryker had turned into her a monster, something to get rid of the mutants who had not passed what expectations he had for them. Kill to survive was the motto she lived by now. Who cared if her sanity was little worse for wear, and she lost all of the pathetic human emotions she once carried? If she did not kill, she did not live, she would be just as dead as the others that Sabertooth but in the incinerator, simple as that.

Her fingers were turning shriveled and prune like as she reached to feel at the back of her neck where her hairline ended and felt at the burn mark that was there, the size of a quarter and was a dull strawberry pink in color. She sighed again and dropped her hand, just as she finished scrubbing the last of whatever was left on her from the last disposable one she had killed. It had been one of those mornings, one of the days when she made her rounds with Victor to get rid of the useless mutants, this last one should have been easy. A scrawny boy with skin the color of ashes and she had to watch in disgust as he whimpered and begged for his life to spared, that he had a mother and father that were missing him. The pleas became nothing but white noise to her, as she took to attaching the strings from her fingertips to the edges of his heart and began to watch as his heart began to weaken. The Water-Manipulator had been so preoccupied with this, that she had noticed that his body had imploded like a puffer fish and exploded, covering her in a wash of blood and pieces of flesh. She had scowled in complete disgust, and ignoring Sabertooth's smirk of amusement, she left him there to clean up the mess, so she could clean her own self.

Shaking herself from the gut wrenching memory, she stepped toward the hot and cold knobs, and turned the hot level all the way to the off position as a few stray droplets plopped onto her flesh, Aster turned to put the body wash and sponge away when the shower door was yanked open with a loud clatter as the glass rattled in its frame and she felt a familiar large hand wrap around her neck and dug said claws attached to the large meaty hand ruthlessly into the flesh of her neck until pin pricks of blood welled up. She was dragged out of the shower, the back of her heels scrapping along the silver edge that the sliding doors rested in.

Aster stood in front of beast in man's flesh, once he had turned her none-to-gently to face him. His hand released her neck, as the red life sustaining liquid now dribbled down in tiny streams down to her uncovered chest. Just after she had gotten herself clean, he made her mess again. Her face was as blank as a clean slate, as the hand that had one squeezed her neck now gently scrapped deadly claws against the slightly tanned skin of her cheek.

He kissed her roughly on the mouth, one arm wrapped around her waist to force her closer to him. A near moan almost escaped her mouth, as still dripping wet unclothed skin met its opposite.

He let go, after her chest was heaving for air and all he did was smirk. "I have surprise for you, doll."

Aster tilted her head to the side like a curious dog, one hand reaching for towel while she regarded Victor with almost curious-filled spring green eyes. Sometimes his surprises only evolved through her bodily onto the bed and having his way with her, until she was spent and unable to move. Thinking that was maybe all that he wanted, she decided against grabbing the fluffy powder white towel, and instead allowed the water to continue to drip massively from her hair to random places on her skin.

To say that they were in love with each other would just be too odd for either of them to admit too. And Aster was not ready to admit to anything that even came close to that word. He was the reason that she was here in this hellhole, but he was also the reason that she lived.

The Water-Manipulator waited for Victor to continue, as he dropped the towel on top of her head and taking the hint that there would not be any rough bed rowdiness, she began to scrub her hair and the rest of her dry. Leaving her hair to look like she had gotten her finger stuck into an electric outlet, she padded into their sleeping quarters and dug through the clean laundry pile while Sabertooth leaned against the wall and picked her dried blood out of his claws.

Aster let the towel drop as she changed into the usual female under attire before grabbing herself a plain white dress with a light baby pink ribbon that tied around the back of her neck. The bottom was ruffled a little, but not enough to show off her bleach-white panties to the whole world if she had to bend over. She then sat down on the bed and shoved ballerina-like slippers onto her feet, tying the matching pink laces all the way up her legs, to about the edge of knees. Brushing her fingers through her still damp hair as it began to curl into odd little ducktails, she looked at Victor's dark gaze that was fixed on her.

"Do I get to know what the surprise is now?" She questioned, nearly sounding bored with waiting.

Victor sneered, fangs clearly showing. "It wouldn't be much of a surprise if I ruined it." He snatched the silver chain with dog tags dangling from it, and fitted around her neck. It sunk below, to be hidden behind the white fabric of her dress. The lettering on the dog tags gleamed showing the name: Rán. Along with a jumble of numbers on the back, that could only guess was her identification number. The name on the tags was the one that Victor had chosen for her, a new name he had said, one that would fit her better. It was the name of a Norse Sea Goddess, not that Aster new a lot about that type of thing. But the name had stuck and even been put as the name on her files in Stryker's office.

Victor led her out of their humble quarters and toward where Stryker was waiting for. The room temperature seemed to drop about ten degrees as they made their way down the hall, and toward the door. If the air conditioning was on this much, did that mean that it was summer outside? Aster pondered for a moment and then shook the thought that could only called utter stupidity from her mind, and punched her access code into the number pad by the door, it slid open with a hiss and the two of them entered.

William Stryker sat as his desk, his glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose. His hands were folded neatly on the wooden surface of the desk, a picture in front of him. Who it was, Aster could not quiet make out.

Stryker smiled at her, a sickly-sweet smile that did not even phase her. Her face back to being a blank slate again, as she sat down in the chair opposite of the human man and waited, swinging her legs back and forth.

"I have a game I want you play, Rán." He said smoothly, and her spring-green eyes narrowed.

"I don't play games." She responded icily, leaning back in the chair.

"Oh, but you will love this one. It is life or death." When he said this, Aster merely raised an eyebrow but it did not say anything in reply.

Stryker held up the picture that had been laying on his desk and smiled wickedly. But Aster's face did not show any emotions, nor did her gaze stop being narrowed at the man. The person staring at her in the picture was a woman, in her early twenties with porcelain colored skin making her look more fragile and doll like then Aster was. Dark chocolate spring tight curls framed the girl's face and her dark rose pink orbs had seemed to lose all hope of ever gaining freedom. Aster knew that face, the name of the girl almost forming on her lips, but she stopped herself and instead pursed her lips.

Finally words of refusal escaped her mouth. "I do not play games with nature, Stryker. I would be damning myself." she stated clearly and harshly. She stood to leave the room, Victor looming over her.

"I never said you had a choice in the matter." The man replied as Victor grabbed Aster around the waist and slammed her bodily into the desk. The air escaping from her lungs as her stomach hit the edge of the desk, and vision began to blur. A hot searing liquid sent steam rising up from the quarter sized burn mark at the edge of her hairline. And she could feel her world becoming fuzzy. Like looking through an out of focus camera. Victor led her through the back door of Stryker's office and down a hall that grew colder still.

She knew she was going to regret this, but her body now had a mind of its own.

**A/N: ****Read and review please! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH) **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Yes, I know it has been forever since I updated this story at all. To be honest, I nearly gave up on it, but here is the second to last chapter. Officially, a day late. As always, I do not own X-men, just the plot for this story and any OCS. -MOTH (Maiden of the Heavens) **

Chapter 9 

This was not the little sister that she remembered. Aster stood frozen, like a statue. Her body no longer moved on its own accord, she was now his puppet, and Stryker the puppeteer. If Aster could she would squeeze the life out of him in a moment, and run with her little sister to freedom, to safety. But for now, she watched as Ivy spit and yelled angrily at the man who had captured them for his own uses, like a trapped and wounded animal. She watched in utter horror as William Stryker pushed the button on the advice that controlled the collar around her sister's neck, and his sister's body surged with electricity from the collar.

Tears spilled past her sister's cheeks as Aster dropped to her knees in front of her, she tried to force her hand to lift up so she could touch her sister's face. But Aster could not move, this all felt like a very horrible nightmare that she could not pull herself out of.

The Water Manipulator stood and left the room, through a different sliding door, that was so cold that her breath came out in a fog. She stood in the middle of the dome, and looked up into the glass windows above the arena to see both Stryker and Victor watching. The water below her feet, was like walking through shallow rain puddles. Victor had disappeared from watching spot, and suddenly dropped her sister from a spot not far from above the ground. Ivy hit the ground like a rag doll and woke up minutes later.

Aster watched as Ivy stared at her younger sibling, she was on her knees and staring at her now free hands.

**Kill her. Show no mercy. **

The command that rang through her mind, the one that Stryker had drilled into mind after he drugged her, stung her like a swarm of hornets. She wanted to scream and dig the words out of her mind, by clawing them out with her hands, but instead she sent a large wave of water at her little sister. The attack sending Ivy flat on her back and choking up water, and gasping for the chilled air that surrounded them.

Her sister stared at her with complete disbelief as Aster sent another wave at her own flesh and blood.

**Kill her. Show no mercy.**

Ivy was faster on her feet then Aster remembered, as Ivy vaulted herself into the air, raising a wall of cement along with her to block the wave, as she landed on top of it. She was screaming something at Stryker, but what she was saying. It sounded muffled, and very faraway, as if her sister was yelling in gibberish.

She watched as Ivy crumbled to the ground. Stryker had sent another surge of electricity through the earth-puppeteer. Her little sister curled into a ball to fight off the agony. As soon as Stryker stopped his attack. Ivy stood, her fingers twisted the wall into a tidal wave of cement. Aster easily countered by turning the water around her into a giant fist and crushing the attack to rubble.

She watched with a blank stare as her sister manipulated the cement around her into a giant moving pedestal. The Water-Manipulator twisted the water around her into a thousand water whips, that attack the pedestal relentlessly, like squirming octopus arms.

They beat at the moving pedestal until it began to crack under the pressure, and Aster quickly had one wrap around her around Ivy's ankle, ready to send her against the wall and crush her with the water below, but before she could continue her murder, Ivy rose her hands and a cement spike rose from the ground slicing through the water whip.

The Earth-Puppeteer landed awkwardly on her feet. For once Aster could hear and understand what Ivy was trying to say. Her words were desperate, and pleading. Nearly dragging her out of Stryker's control.

"_Aster…haben wir nicht zu kämpfen. Sie müssen sich der Kontrolle von Stryker zu kämpfen bitte… -_Aster…we don't have to fight. You need to fight Stryker's control, please…-"

**Kill her. Show no mercy. **

The command forced out her sister's words away as Aster surrounded her sister with a massive bubble, that floated inches away from the puddles that had formed it. Aster watched her sister struggle for air, and as she stopped moving. Aster could feel tears stinging against her eyes. She didn't want to kill her sister, she did not want to kill Ivy.

Ivy's eyes suddenly snapped open as cement block was forced through the watery grave that Aster had forced her into. Before the Water-Manipulator could even blink, Ivy had made the cement block into a thousand lethal spikes that were coming right at her. Aster wrapped water around the spikes, and froze them with the winter-like air in the room. The ice covered spikes crumbled around her soaked and ruined slippers.

Her sister glared at her, deadly and cold. She was soaked to the skin, and gasping for breath. Aster was about to lift more water to send at Ivy, but instead, sent the strings on her fingertips to the water that was in the prison orange jumpsuit, and dragged her sister toward her. She formed the puddle of water near her other hand into an ice dagger, and wrapped her thin fingers around it.

She pressed against the soft and pale flesh of her sister's throat. Fear drowned the determination away in Ivy's eyes, as Aster felt a sneer curling her lips. The same sneer that formed when she was about to finish torturing a victim. Aster's words came out as cold as the ice dagger that she held. "_Abschied, kleine Schwester…-_Goodbye, little sister.-" Her sister's blood pooled around the dagger and trickled onto her fingers.

Suddenly the ground beneath her feet shook, as she sent airborne and quickly scrambled to her feet, once she roughly landed, the dagger had slipped out of her hand, and was now melting several feet away. Ivy was back on her feet as well, after the Earth-Puppeteer had backward rolled to regain a standing position.

Aster continued to send wave after wave of water at her own sister, but Ivy by using her elemental power to create small lifting pedestals was able to twist herself in midair, in order to dodge her older siblings attacks.

Ivy landed behind the Water-Manipulator, but before she could turn to face her. Aster felt pain tear through her body, a gasp of agony escaped her, as large cement spikes protruded from her collarbone all the way down to abdomen, coded with her own blood.

Aster felt herself sink into the shallow water below, as she choked on her blood and spit, trying to breath. Trying to live at least for a little while longer. She felt Ivy dragging her into her lap, as she began to feel cold. Is this what dying felt like?

She could feel Ivy's warmth, could feel her sister's tears as they splattered against her own skin. It wasn't Ivy fault, couldn't she that? It was Stryker's. He had forced her sister to choice between living and dying. And Ivy had chosen to live. She had chosen to kill instead of being killed.

"_Es tut mir leid…Aster…verseih mir… -_I'm sorry…Aster…forgive me…" Her little sister's words were choked by own tears as she continued to sob. Aster wished that she could she could comfort her in someway, as body continued to grow colder.

The Water-Manipulator struggled to gasp for breath, it came out shaky and ragged. Forming the words that she wanted to become difficult, as blood pooled around her teeth and tongue, starting to trickle out of her mouth and down her chin as she spoke.

"_Nicht zu entschuldigen…Ich kann jezt schon…die Freiheit nach…so langer Zeit…danke… -_Do not apologize…I can know freedom now…after so long…danke…-" Each word formed, made her lose more blood and more time, but Aster did not care. The world around her was starting to dim rabidly, her sister's broken hearted sobs beginning to fade into nothing but the sound of a mosquito.

She could no longer feel any pain, and could no longer hear Stryker's voice in her head. Aster was free now.

If Aster could of, her eyes would of opened in fear and surprise, as the last thing she heard as she died, the last thing she felt in her bones, was Victor's roar of rage and agony.

**A/N: The very last chapter of this story will be posted on Saturday. Please review! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH) **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: ****This is the last and finale chapter of this story. As always I do not own X-Men, just the plot for this story, and any OCS. Please Read and Review! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH)**

Chapter 10

She opened her eyes, and all she could feel was excruciating pain. It ripped and tore through her body as if she was on fire, her whole body aflame, with no where to go to escape it. She wanted to cry, to scream, but no words would escape, not a sound. The pain was too much. A high pitched beeping rang in her ears, as she could hear people rushing into the room. Bright lights flooded her eyes, and she wanted to squeeze them shut, but she found that she was unable to do so.

Suddenly, she felt it. A rush of cooling, making the flame-like pain go away, making her feel calm and extremely sleepy, and at peace. Then a thought plunged through her hazy and now tired mind. Wasn't she supposed to be dead? Hadn't her little sister killed her?

Aster tried to blink her sea-green eyes, but found it terribly difficult to do so, whatever had made the agony go away, and also made it very hard for her to stay awake. She shivered as familiar feeling grazed her skin. It was his claws, gently scrapping against her cheek, and then he gently cupped her cheek in his hand.

Sea-green eyes met his supposed to be soulless onyx black. But there was something there, that nearly frightened her. There was relief and something else, stirring the emotions in Sabertooth. But she could not grasp, what is was. Not at first. Then as he gently, pressed a kiss to her forehead. She realized what it was, love. He loved her.

And perhaps maybe even she had somehow, found a way to fall in love with him as well. Not that either of them would ever admit it to one another.

She had so many questions spinning through her head, that wasn't sure what she needed to clear up first. She slowly lifted her hand up and curled her thin and long fingers around one of Victor's beefy and manly ones.

His name would not form on her lips at first, she struggled to form the letters. Until finally it came out in a hushed whisper. "V-Victor…"

The beast in man's flesh looked at her, and gently pushed the morphine button again. He watched as her face, which was crinkled with confusion began to relax. She would be asleep soon, and then he would have to figure out how to get her out of here.

"You're okay, you're alive." He said gruffly and watched as Aster slowly shook her head.

"I don't want to be…Stryker will…find us…"

Sabertooth sighed, she had been under for so long, that she didn't know. "He's gone, so is Three Mile Island."

"We're free?" Aster asked, as she finally slipped away into the darkness of dreams.

Victor growled low. "For now, Doll."

When Aster woke up again, she found herself in a hazy-filled daze. She had no clue where she was anymore. She thought for sure that last time she had been in a hospital, or something that was supposed to be a hospital. It would certainly explain the sharp smell of cleaning chemicals and death, along with all the people coming in and out of her room wearing white. But now it was different, there was not the smell of death or cleaning chemicals.

Instead, she smelt pine, almost like Christmas. And the fur from the blankets that were covering her were warm and cozy, and also tickled her nose and chin. Aster laid her head down to the side against the massive feather-down pillows. She could here noises. The running of water from a sink faucet, the spitting sound of grease and fat trying to escape a pan on a stove. She carefully pushed herself back into a sitting position, to see a fire crackling in the hearth, there was a fireplace in her room.

She turned her head, to the noise of creaking floorboards, to see Victor's massive frame blocking most of the door. There was a plate of stir-fry in his hands, along with a very large glass of milk.

"Why-Why are you doing this?" Aster questioned softly as he sat on the bed beside her legs, and set the plate and glass on a moving tray.

"Don't ask stupid questions, Doll." Was Victor's only answer, as he swiveled the tray that was attached to a movable arm against the wall, as it was now close enough for her to reach. "Eat and then I'm changing your bandages."

Aster could only nod, still not fully comprehending the situation, as she slowly ate her meal. She was alive. Alive, not dead. She still found it very difficult to wrap her mind around.

The plate and glass were taken away, now both empty. Victor peeled back the covers of the bed, to reveal Aster lying there very much without clothing. The only thing giving her any form of modesty where the bandages that were wrapped around her from below her throat all the way down to her abdomen. They were bloodstained, and she watched with horror as Victor unwrapped them. The scar revealed brought tears to her eyes, she felt them slip down her cheeks, as she began to sob. Victor ignoring her cries, cleaned away the blood and dead skin away with a cloth, and then to Aster's dismay began to do the same to her back. The scar was identical on both her front and her back. Large and bumpy, very red, and ugly.

"I-I'm a monster…" She sobbed, as she choked on her own spit and snot.

"It was the only way to save you." Victor replied as he wrapped her with fresh gauze and bandages.

"I-I'm a monster…" Aster repeated as Victor pushed the morphine button that was attached to the IV bag. The IV fluid, running through the sight in her hand.

Victor recovered her up with the blankets, and wiped away the tears that still clung to her eyelashes with the sleeve of his leather jacket before exiting the room and shutting the door.

Aster should have been happy that she was alive. Victor looked down at the bruises that were rabidly turning to a sickly yellow along the entire length of both his arms, after all he had given her his blood. The organs and other parts needed to repair her were simply forced donations from useless mutants. She should be happy, that she was alive. After all Victor Creed wasn't one to just randomly have people brought back to life.

They had to be very important to him. Which Aster was, very important. After all what kind of beast would be, if he allowed his mate to die?

**A/N: ****If you are interested in reading the continuation of Victor and Aster's Story please go ahead and start reading Borderline, but before go read and review for that one, please leave a review for this one. -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH)**


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